Slipping already ....

.... oh dear, I didn't make anything yesterday.  Only because I got a reprieve, we were supposed to go to a friend's daughter's 2nd birthday in the afternoon (I was going to make her card in the morning), but they had to cancel it - so that one went on the long finger!!

But I can't escape my own daughter's birthday, coming up fast, so today I made her card.  Here it is:

I used the sketch from this week's Papertake Weekly and I'm also entering this into Kenny K's Krafty Girlz ("Metal Embellishment"), Totally Papercrafts ("Bling it up") and Crafts and Me ("Ribbon").

The MME papers I bought last week in Cork have the perfect colour pallette, as my daughter's current favourite colours are mustard, dark grey and wine. 

This is the first time I've used a Kenny K image, I really like this one for an older teenage girl, although I'm a bit sniffy about some of their images, too tarty for my taste, guess I'm a big old pearl-clutcher!!!  I broke out my pro-markers for the first time in absolutely ages to colour this - still haven't got the hang of doing hair, but I'm pleased with the rest of it, especially the jeans and the shoes.  Here's a close-up:

I made the numbers myself - printed out from the computer, stuck down and cut out from chipboard - and then I added a row of gems to each.  Here's a side shot of the dimension on this card:

Recipe:

Papers: MME Stella Rose "Hattie"

Image: Kenny K "Club Kid"

Colouring Medium: Pro Markers

Other: Fancy Pants "Daily Grind" chipboard cloud, Hero Arts gems on numbers, Prima swirl, Doodlebug brads, ribbon and buckle frpm stash, needle + thread

Thanks for looking!

Betcha didn't think ....

.... I'd finish that card today?  Neither did I, but .... I did!!  Maybe because I have to make a card a day for the next three days, no excuses - they're all due imminently.  Eek!

Today's card is the second of three commissioned cards that I'm making for a lady's 60th birthday.  I'm going for a very different look for each one, so I've moved from yesterday's soft greens and fairies to this -screaming bright red and manga!!

I've used the sketch from The Sugar Bowl - I'm also entering this into Kaboodle Doodles ("Stitching"), Stamp Something ("Summer Something" - my manga girl looks like she's heading out into an Irish summer - with sunhat AND umbrella!) and Totally Gorjuss ("punch or die").

I changed this card so many times while I was making it - the cardstock went from red to cream to aqua and finally walnut - and the top patterned paper layer went from these cherries to some blue with kites to some blue with red birds and finally back to the cherries again.  What a pain in the wotsit!!  My crafting buddy, Michelle, lent me a beautiful doily die at the crop the other night - it cuts out the most intricate doily pattern which I've used on this card - I'm going to have to buy this die, I think it's on the Joanna Sheen site.  It's also extremely therapeutic poking the bits out of all those little holes!!

Here's a close-up of my little Manga girl.





Recipe:

Papers: Cosmo Cricket "Togetherness" and "Early Bird"

Image: Sugar Nellie "April Showers"

Colouring Medium: Distress Inks

Other: Doily Die, Hero Arts pearls, ribbon from stash, needle + thread

Thanks for looking - fingers crossed for another card tomorrow!!!

No, I haven't been ....

.... away on holidays for the last three weeks - I have simply no idea where the time has gone.  Spent the first fortnight of the summer hols trying to wrestle house and laundry into some kind of order, the third week was a completely indulgent Harry Potter fest - my son and I spent the entire week watching all the previous movies and reading the books in the run up to HP8's release - then went to see it on the release day.  We loved it!

We spent a few days this week visiting some Mini friends of ours down in Cork - they run a B&B in their house - a fantastic old converted train shed (The Old Train House B&B) - and we had such a good time touristing by day and gossiping by night!!!

But now I'm home again, with a scarily large backlog of cards to make!!  The first one is also my PaperPlay entry this week.  Our challenge is called  "In the Garden" and we are sponsored by Whiff of Joy.  Here's my card:

I'm also entering this into the following challenges: Colour Create ("Pink, Green & White"), Fussy & Fancy Friday ("Summer"), Stamp Something ("Something embellished") and Totally Gorjuss ("Punch or Die").

I've used a gorgeous Lili of the Valley fairy image - so cute.  Here's a closer look:

Recipe:

Papers: BG "Wisteria"

Image: Lili of the Valley "Fairies - on Tiptoe"

Colouring Medium: Distress Inks

Other: Nestabilities Lacey Circles, MS Branch punch, Diamond Stickles, flower and brad from stash

Thanks for looking - another card started at a crop this evening, who knows, I may even finish it tomorrow - cough cough cough!!

Lots of ....

.... in-jokes in the project I'm showing you today. 

I rarely make very personalised cards, apart from adding a name or an age.  I can't imagine anything worse than having to make a card for a 70 year old school caretaker who likes drinking whiskey and betting on racehorses (this was a real card a crafting buddy had to make - I would have said "No" to that particular commission and ran screaming in the opposite direction)!!

Friends of ours had a joint 40th birthday party on Saturday night - it was a vinyl party, everyone had to bring old records - we had a very odd mix of 60s soul, 70s disco and 80s electronic, based on the age and record collections of those present!  The birthday couple, especially the guy, are big fans of Father Ted and can quote great chunks of the episodes verbatim, so we decided to get them a copy of The Specials "Ghost Town" as a joke present and base the card/gift holder around it.  Here's what I made:

Front cover:

Inside, with pocket for gift cards on left, and 7" record holder on right:

Here's a close-up of the Mo Manning dancing nuns image.  For embellishment, I typed out various Father Ted quotes and stuck them down, haven't put close ups 'cos some of them are a bit rude (nothing stopping you from clicking on the image, though)!!

It was a busy weekend, on Sunday we went to a car show.  The weather was glorious.   Here's a few pics:

The two Minis we brought - blue Traveller to the front, black Cooper behind:

Some fab VW camper vans and a divine Fiat 500:

The Minis all lined up in the sunshine:

And I was delighted to finally meet a fellow blogger, Margie.  She and I have been talking for over two years, but have never met in real life until now - it was an absolute pleasure to chat to her and her lovely niece, Rommeij.  Here we are in front of Margie's lovely Morris Minor Traveller - and see that necklace I'm wearing, it made an interesting pattern on my sunburn - the bit I forgot to put sunblock on.  Duh! 

(Iif you were wondering about the Father Ted/Ghost Town connection, here's a utube video of the piece of the relevant episode)

Thanks for looking!